Washington (CNN) - The chairman of the House Budget Committee said Sunday that if early reports are accurate, President Obama is "abdicating leadership" on the debt crisis by proposing a budget that will continue to raise the national debt.

"The president is elected to lead and to face the country's biggest challenges," GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said on "Fox News Sunday." "The country's biggest challenge domestically speaking, no doubt about it, is a debt crisis, and I'm really hoping that he is going to give us a budget that tackles this debt crisis."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Republican Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said his lobbying background would be an asset for the president of the United States.

"I'm a lobbyist and had a career lobbying. The guy who gets elected or the lady who gets elected president of the United States will immediately be lobbying," Barbour on "Fox News Sunday." "That's what presidents do for a living."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Former Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty kept up his criticism of the Obama administration Sunday, calling their response to the crisis in Egypt "nearly incoherent."

"Before his administration spoke like a tower of Babel with multiple voices saying multiple things, they should have had one message," Pawlenty said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Instead you had the president, the vice president, the secretary of state, the national intelligence director going off in different directions saying nearly incoherent, at least inconsistent things."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said the creation of an Egyptian democracy would have a lasting effect in the region, but advised Egyptians to take their time setting up a new government.

"If the Egyptian people can create a democracy in the heart of the Arab world it will be a more significant contribution to civilization than the great pyramids," Graham said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."FULL POST

(CNN) - Real estate mogul Donald Trump conducted an interview with a New Hampshire television station that will air Monday night, another sign the reality television star is seriously weighing a presidential run.

Trump will be one of the candidates featured in an hour-long special on Manchester-based WMUR-TV set to air Monday, according to the station. The interviews conducted by WMUR anchor Josh McElveen will air one year before the tentative date set for the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Both sides of the political aisle staked out their fiscal positions Saturday ahead of the budget debate on Capitol Hill.

President Obama, who will unveil his proposals Monday, said it's time "Washington acted responsibly" and live within its means. He said his budget will propose freezing annual domestic spending for the next five years, stripping waste from government, including getting rid of empty government buildings and suspending salaries for government employees. He also vowed to veto any bill that contains earmarks, legislative provisions that direct funds to a specific project.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul issued an economic call to arms Thursday, laying out the steps he said America must take to "avoid financial ruin."

Paul said the country needs to take a "long and hard look" at the military budget, address entitlement reform and abolish the department of education. He also said the proposal by House Republicans to freeze spending at 2008 levels is not enough to address the national debt.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - The ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference was divided Thursday between boos and cheers as two Republican giants faced the crowd.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a surprise guest, presented former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the "Defender of the Constitution Award" at the annual conference of conservatives which this year has gained significance for being a cattle-call for potential GOP presidential candidates.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Former Sen. Rick Santorum criticized President Obama's view of America in a speech emphasizing his own social conservatism.

Speaking before a crowd at CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that this year is considered a cattle call of potential 2012 presidential candidates, Santorum took issue with the president's handling of the crisis in Egypt.FULL POST